I never knew what a toll stress was taking on my body until I retired. I could literally feel the stress melting away over time. It took about six months for me to fully de-stress after working almost 30 years.

Of course, too much stress is not good for any of us. In this way, our jobs are slowly killing us every day.

33% more heart attacks occur on Monday mornings.

Uh, yeah. Because 1) people hate their jobs and 2) there's a lot of stress there. No surprise here.

In retirement, Monday becomes your favorite day. Why? Because everyone else goes back to work. The stores are quieter, the gym is quieter, the theater is quieter, and so on.

The average commute time is 47 minutes round trip.

That is BRUTAL!

Most people don't factor the physical (more stress!) and monetary (like taking a big pay cut) impact of a long commute.

Think about it this way: 47 minutes per day * 5 days per week * 50 weeks = 11,750 minutes or 196 hours or 8.2 days per year commuting. Ugh.

I never had a commute more than 20 minutes one way and if I had I would have probably hated it completely.

41% of tasks on to-do lists never get completed.

What a shock here...not really.

Most people are so busy getting to the urgent things each day that they don't get to the important things.

There's a reason Covey addressed this in his 7 Habits book.

Interesting stuff all the way around. If you want more, check out the infographic for yourself.

Second, I think I have "made it" and I've never owned a home I purchased for over $400k (my current home might be worth that now, but I bought it for under $400k -- and we don't live in the high rent district).

That said, I do own $600k of rental property, so don't know if they're counting that (I assume not).

Average car value: Now: $15,789; Made it: $41,986

Uh, no.

Really? Really, America?

Maybe it's because they associate "making it" with an expensive, luxury car. Otherwise, I don't get it.

Two other pieces of information worth sharing:

My state, Colorado, was listed as the #3 "made it" state. Oh yes...

They asked people what it took to be "above average" in status. Women were more likely to say "income" while men were more likely to say "freedom". Interesting. That said, freedom and income are interrelated.

Check out the piece for a ton more interesting facts presented in a very nice infographic.

The Economist reported in June 2014 that U.S. student loan debt exceeded $1.2 trillion, with over 7 million debtors in default. In 2014, there was approximately $1.3 trillion of outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. that affected 44 million borrowers who had an average outstanding loan balance of $37,172.

This level of debt in and of itself is not a problem -- as long as that debt can be covered by the salaries of the graduates with the debt.

The problem comes when a person borrows a huge amount that has no chance of being repaid given his expected graduating salary.

February 05, 2018

Among U.S. households headed by someone aged 44 to 49, the average retirement savings balance is $81,347, according to the Economic Policy Institute. But while that number may not seem all that bad, it's also a bit misleading. A small number of wealthier people who are financially able to set aside very large amounts can easily pull an average up. And in fact, they do. If we take a look at the median retirement savings balance -- signifying that half of these households have more saved, and half have less -- it's just $6,200. And what this tells us is that there are far more 40-something families whose nest eggs are below the average than above it.

Yikes! The median is $6,200???? That is totally pathetic!

But there's more -- they continue:

But even if you're between 44 and 49 and have managed to amass $81,000 or so, you still have some catching up to do. According to Fidelity, by the time you reach your mid-40s, your retirement savings balance should be equal to four times your salary. Since the average salary for American workers in their mid-40s is somewhere around the $50,000 range, to have accumulated just $81,347 at this point means you're not where you need to be. And if you're among the countless Americans who have yet to set aside a single dime for retirement, let this serve as a wake-up call.

In other words, you should have $200k saved by your mid-40's.

IMO this is not anywhere close to being enough (at 4% withdrawal, you can take $8k out per year). I'd prefer at least double that by mid-40s for sure -- hopefully even by the time you reach 40. That would allow $16k per year withdrawal at retirement. Add in savings from 40 to retirement age plus Social Security and you should have more than enough to retire -- and do so early!